Intel sells anti-virus business, waits 12 years, buys anti-virus business

Filed Under: Malware

McAfee and Intel
The big news in the IT security industry today is the announcement that Intel plans to acquire McAfee for a jaw-dropping $7.68 billion.

Yes, that's "billion". Oh to have such pocket money.

Of course, those of us with long memories will know that Intel is no stranger to the computer security industry.

Indeed they used to have their own anti-virus product (Intel LanDesk Virus Protect) which they sold to Symantec in 1998.

Symantec acquires Intel anti-virus

Now, Intel is purchasing Symantec's arch-enemy McAfee and re-entering the business.

It's like they're dancing the hokey-cokey. # You put your left leg in, your left leg out, in out in out, and you shake it all about... #

It's too early to say what the impact of this acquisition will mean to McAfee's customers, but there will no doubt be some happy McAfee shareholders today as the price rises to its highest level since the late 1990s.

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One Response to Intel sells anti-virus business, waits 12 years, buys anti-virus business

  1. iamis says:

    Um... it's the Hokey Pokie, not the Hokey Cokey. :-)

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About the author

Graham Cluley has worked in the computer security industry for more than 20 years, developing anti-virus software and doing quite a lot of talking about internet threats. He's won awards for his blogging, but is proudest of the text adventure games he wrote when he was still wearing short trousers. You can learn more about those (the games, not the trousers) at grahamcluley.com. Send Graham an email, subscribe to his updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and App.net, and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.